Thales Leites - Unstoppable Middleweight UFC Champion

Thales Leites Lourenco is a mixed martial arts fighter,  born on 06 September 1981 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Thales competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In April 2015, Leites was ranked #10 in the official UFC Middleweight rankings.

In 2003, at Shooto Brazil Thales Leites Lourenco fought his first debut match against Felipe Arinelli. It was not a piece of cake for Leites to fight with Arinelli. The audience was supporting Felipe but they didn’t know that Thales Leites was going to surprise them via an arm-triangle choke submission.

In 2005, Leites made his debut in the Hawaii United States against Adam Roland and won the match. This was Leites' fourth consecutive martial arts victory.

After earning consecutive victories in the US, Thales decided to return back to Brazil. He wanted to stay in his homeland, in a strong community of Jiu-Jitsu fighters. So his first fight in Brazil was with Gustavo Machado who was undefeated in the two consecutive fights of the Japanese Pancrase Organization.

When the fight started, the anticipation of both fighters caught the attention of the audience. In the first two rounds, Gustavo remained dominant as Gustavo was more experienced compared to Thales but in the third round, Thales defeated Gustavo via submission.

Later in September, Thales' rivals decided to invite him to the Rock to fight against his hometown favorite Ronald Jhun. Before the fight, Jhun was confident that he would pin Thales down but Leite’s strategy worked and he managed to defeat Ronald Jhun via technical knockout in the second half of the fight.

Until 2006, Thales secured many victories. Thales' fights were admired by a large number of people but he was not able to gain much popularity to be ranked in the mainstream fighters list.

In Japan's MARS and Jungle Fight in Brazil,  Thales Leite fought with the renowned fighters, Osami Shibuya and Jose Landi-Jons ( also known as Pele ) and gained huge popularity. In both fights, Thales Leites was less trained and experienced than his opponents. But Thales' fight style was remarkable. Thales managed to defeat Osami via decision and Landi-Jons was choked.

Thales Leites in a post-fight interview shared his views about Landi-Jons.

When Thales entered the world of UFC his biggest desire was to fight with Nate Marquardt. Thales was lucky that in September 2006 in the event Ortiz vs Shamrock 3, a fight was scheduled between Thales and Nate. Thales reached late to the place due to some missing documents. The bout was canceled which made Thales desperate and his desire was not fulfilled.

In the Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale,  Leites fought against Danish kickboxer Martin Kampmann. Thales Leites lost this match via decision. 

Thales defeated Pete Sell and Floyd Sword in the UFC fight. Both fighters were graded professionals in the UFC. Leites remained fierce throughout the fights and defeated Pete via arm triangle choke and earned submission. 

Just in a few months' time in the UFC, Leites got his record (3-0-1). A bout between Thales and Nate was again canceled because Leites’ hand was broken during training.

Under the card UFC 90, a bout with heavy-handed Drew McFedries turned into a victory for Thales Leites. Thales not only won the fight via submission and secured Rank 1 contenders under the UFC middleweight title.

Thake Leites’ popularity was increasing day by day but then came his worst defeat against Anderson Silva. After the nerve-wracking fight, Silva managed to defeat Thales via a controversial split decision. This fight is regarded as one of the worst fights in history.

When both the fighters stepped into the octagon, the only question that struck my mind was: “Could Leites get Silva to the ground?”

Silva attempted for a takedown in series and striking numbers. Thales' body was bathed in blood. Thales' every attempt failed and he seemed a bit confused about the continuous successful attempts at Anderson.

On the return to the octagon, again Thales was defeated by Italian pro fighter, Alessio Sakara via a controversial split decision.

Referee Marc Goddard seemed quite annoyed due to the lack of action during the fights. He stated to the fighters that mixed martial arts are a “contact sport.”

Due to his continuous losses in matches, Leites was expelled from the UFC. Dana White tried to reverse the decisions but the evidence was futile.

The end of the UFC promotion failed to stop Leites from continuing fighting. He fought 7 fights outside of UFC starting from December 4, 2009, at MFC. against Dean Lister in the front poster event of MFC 23: Unstoppable.

Thales Leites' fight with Dean Lister was the most anticipated fight of the card. On 4th December 2009, at MFC 23, Leites secured victory against Dean Lister via decision.

Just after a few months, Thales successfully defeated Rico Washington via submission and then Jesse Taylor at MFC 25. Leites regained his UFC promotion on August 3, 2013, in UFC 163.

In California, on 14th August 2010, Thales Leites experienced his first submission loss in his UFC career. Thales was scheduled to fight with Falaniko Vitale but instead faced Matt Horwich who successfully defeated Thales via submission.

Then on 29 October 2010, in the Superior Challenge promotion, Leites submitted middleweight champion Tor Troeng.

Thales Leites' victories revealed that he was at the boom of his UFC career. In 2013, UFC reassigned Thales Leites and on his return, he fought Tom Watson on 23 August 2013. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Bisping remained aggressive and vigilant throughout the bout. Bisping’s strikes were enough to blow Thales out of the octagon. Leites attempted one takedown but went futile and Bisping declared the winner by decision.

At UFC 183, this bout was a tough one and entertaining between Leites and Tim. The bout started and both players got down to striking. There came a moment when Boetsch tried to strangle Leites with a right hook. Tim was not able to ground Leites but he bounced back and got a takedown. Leites tried to attempt an arm triangle choke but Boaestch managed it well.

The fight finished in round 2 and Leites secured his fifth win.

Leites exits the Octagon T-3 in wins in MW history with 13.

What a career, @ThalesLeites 👏 #UFCSP pic.twitter.com/fX3BlYJpRh

— UFC (@ufc) September 22, 2018

At the end of UFC Fight Night 137, after a nail-biting fight against Héctor Lombard, Leites won the fight via a unanimous decision.

After the fight, he surprisingly announced the decision of his retirement. He put his UFC gloves on the arena and kneeled with his head over the gloves as a sign of traditional reverence for the sport.

He said:

Thales Leites vs Tor Troeng. SC6: Lions Den

Thales Leites VS José Landi Jons. Jungle Fight 6

UFC 216 Free Fight: Thales Leites vs Brad Tavares

THALES LEITES x PELÉ LANDI

Gegard Mousasi vs Thales Leites

Thales Leites vs Matt Horwich

Photo Credit: @thalesleites